Tantoo Cardinal

Tantoo Cardinal, CM is a Canadian film and television actress.

Tantoo Cardinal

CM
Born
Rose Marie Cardinal

(1950-07-20) July 20, 1950
Anzac, Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada
OccupationActress
Years active1975–present

Early life

Rose Marie "Tantoo"[1] Cardinal was born the youngest of three children to Julia Cardinal, a woman of Cree and Métis descent, and was raised by her grandmother, who nick-named her Tantoo.

Cardinal was raised in the hamlet of Anzac, Alberta. The lack of electricity inspired her to use her imagination while playing in the bush. Her grandmother nicknamed her “Tantoo” after the insect repellent they used while picking blueberries together. She taught Cardinal the Cree language, the traditional ways of their culture and the difficulties she would face growing up Métis in Canada. Cardinal has said that it was walking behind her grandmother where she first learned to act.[2][3][4]

Career

Cardinal has played roles in many notable films and television series, including Spirit Bay, Dances with Wolves, Black Robe, Legends of the Fall, Smoke Signals, Hold the Dark and North of 60. She was cast in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation mini-series By Way of the Stars with Gordon Tootoosis as The Cree Chief and Eric Schweig as Black Thunder.

In 2009, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada "for her contributions to the growth and development of Aboriginal performing arts in Canada, as a screen and stage actress, and as a founding member of the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company".[5]

Hand print, Aboriginal Walk of Honour, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

On August 23, 2011, Cardinal, Margot Kidder, and dozens of others were arrested while protesting the proposed extension of the Keystone Pipeline.[6]

In 2012, she performed the role of Regan in an all-aboriginal production of William Shakespeare's King Lear at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, alongside a cast that also included August Schellenberg as Lear, Billy Merasty as Gloucester, Jani Lauzon in a dual role as Cordelia and the Fool, and Craig Lauzon as Kent.[7]

In 2017, she was named the winner of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's Earle Grey Award for lifetime achievement.[8]

In the 2018 film The Grizzlies, she plays a high school principal who is skeptical a first-time teacher can address social issues in the northwestern Nunavut community of Kugluktuk.

Personal life

Cardinal met her first husband, Fred Martin, while boarding at his family’s home during her high school years in Edmonton. They were married from 1968 to 1978 and had a son, Cheyenne, prior to their divorce. She had her second son, Clifford, with actor Beaver Richards. From 1988 to 2000, Cardinal was married to actor John Lawlor, with whom she had a daughter, Riel.[9]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1978 Marie-Anne Tantou
1981 Death Hunt Indian Woman
1983 Running Brave Caroline
1986 Places Not Our Own Rose
1986 Loyalties Rosanne Ladouceur Genie Award nominee for Best Actress at the 8th Genie Awards
1987 Candy Mountain Annie
1990 Divided Loyalties Molly Brant
1990 Dances with Wolves Black Shawl
1991 Black Robe
1992 Unforgiven Sally Two Trees
1993 Silent Tongue Silent Tongue
1993 Where the Rivers Flow North Bangor
1993 Mustard Bath Sister Amantha
1994 Sioux City Dawn Rainfeather
1994 Legends of the Fall Pet
1997 The Education of Little Tree Granma
1997 Silence Dolores
1998 Honey Moccasin Honey Moccasin
1998 Smoke Signals Arlene Joseph
1998 Heartwood Violet Boucher
1999 The Hi-Line Singing Bird
1999 A Stranger in the Kingdom Heaven Fontaine
2000 Postmark Paradise Reenie
2000 Blood River Claire / Mattie Short
2002 Edge of Madness Ruth
2004 Memory Ida Short
2006 Unnatural & Accidental Aunt Shadie / Rita

2006 [ Indian summer- the oka crisis]
2008 Older than America Auntie Apple
2008 Ancestor Eyes Verna Short
2008 Mothers & Daughters Celine
2010 Every Emotion Costs Aunt Marcy
2011 Shouting Secrets June
2012 Eden The Nurse
2013 From Above Older Venus
2013 Maïna Tekahera
2014 Down Here Stella Mitchell
2015 Hope Bridge Lana
2016 ARQ The Pope
2017 Wind River Alice Crowheart
2017 Ghostkiller Aunt Rosie Stillwind Announced
2018 Falls Around Her Mary Birchbark
2018 The Grizzlies Janice
2018 Through Black Spruce
2018 Hold the Dark Illanaq
2018 Angelique's Isle
2019 Red Snow Ruth
TBA Darkeye: CyberHunt Pre-production

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1984 Spirit Bay Annie Main role
1987 Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge Little Doe Television film
1990 The Campbells Maria Brant Episode: "Miles to Go"
1991 Lightning Field Vivian Television film
1992 Street Legal Renee Stonehouse Recurring role; 4 episodes
1992-93 By Way of the Stars Franois Television mini-series
1993 Harts of the West Helen Episode: "Auggie's End"
1993 Spirit Rider Marilyn St. Claire Television film
1993–1995 Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman Snow Bird Recurring role; 7 episodes
1994–1997 North of 60 Betty Moses Recurring role; 7 episodes
1995 500 Nations (voice) Television mini-series
1996 Grand Avenue Nellie Television film
1998 Big Bear Running Second Television mini-series
1998 Cold Squad Theresa Sandiman Episode: "Salty Cheever"
2000 Navigating the Heart Mary Television film
2000 The Lost Child Aunt Mary Television film
2001 MythQuest Walloha Episode: "Red Wolf's Daughter"
2002 Tom Stone Judge Crowfoot Episode: "Royalty"
2003-06 Moccasin Flats Betty Merasty Recurring role; 22 episodes
2004 Windy Acres Aunt Laura Recurring role; 7 episodes
2004 H20 Grand Chief Katie Blackfire Guest role; 2 episodes
2004 A Thief of Time Irene Musket Television film
2007 Luna: Spirit of the Whale Gloria Maquinna Television film
2008 The Guard Ursula recurring role; 4 episodes
2008 Just Breathe Heather Television film
2008 Changing Climates, Changing Times Grace Lajoie Television film
2009 Tales of an Urban Indian Dianne Television film
2009 Dear Prudence Ruth Vigil Television film
2010 Shattered Carol Guest role; 2 episodes
2012–2015 Blackstone Wilma Stoney Recurring role; 18 episodes
2013 Arctic Air Aunt Mary Episode: "Skeletons in the Closet"
2014 Strange Empire Pichette Episode: "Lonely Hearts"
2014–2016 Mohawk Girls Zoe's Mom Recurring role; 5 episodes
2015–2017 Longmire Marilyn Yarlott Guest role; 4 episodes
2016 Frontier Kamenna Guest role; 2 episodes
2016 On the Farm Ada Taylor Television film
2017 Godless Iyovi Miniseries; 7 episodes
2018 Outlander Adawehi Guest role; 2 episodes
2019–2020 Stumptown Sue Lynn Blackbird Series regular

Audiobooks
Year Title Role Notes
2019 The Testaments

Music Videos
Year Title Role Notes
2019 Mehcinut by Jeremy Dutcher

See also

References
  1. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/tantoo-cardinal
  2. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/tantoo-cardinal
  3. Actress Tantoo Cardinal to speak at IU's Native Film Series on Feb. 20: IU News Room: Indiana University
  4. "Tantoo Cardinal". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
  5. "Governor General Announces 57 New Appointments to the Order of Canada". Office of the Secretary to the Governor General. December 30, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
  6. "Margot Kidder arrested at White House oil protest". CBC News. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  7. "Aboriginal cast in staging of King Lear". Ottawa Citizen, May 12, 2012.
  8. "Tantoo Cardinal among those getting special Canadian Screen Awards". The Guardian, January 12, 2016.
  9. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/tantoo-cardinal
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